Friday, December 28, 2012

2013 is to be the year of "the gathering"
The idea is that you invite friends and folks from abroad to come and visit.
It is to kick off click here with a big concert and fireworks on New Years Eve.

Scotland will have to take a back seat this year..

The idea of the gathering is all well and good, but the prices in Dublin are a complete rip off.
In the UK you can get a Sunday roast with all the trimmings and a pint of beer all for around £6in Weatherspoons

A pint of the black stuff alone in Temple bar is over €6 and the meal will cost around €15.

But Dublin is a great place if you don't spend any money.

So there I was stuck with no keys for the car and the time ticking away.
Enough I thought I will buy another key. €180 said the garage man !
So I found one on Ebay for €70 which seems like the right one.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The first thing the passingers see on arrival at the Dublin ferry port

Recently re thatched this house from the year 1754 in Lusk

A bit blurred but..A dog with a scarf !

This house near the Malahide Rd. is lit up every year....Fantastic

A foggy day on Lenox St Portabello

It so sad to see another massacre of innocents in America,
You can get your first gun at 11 years old in some states.
I know that a good few years ago there was a great documentary made about it by that well filled out American guy Michael Moore.

Perhaps this time the laws will be changed and the guns will be taken out of the hands of the maniacs who now hold them.

Hard as it might seem we have to block out the horror that modern media throws at us every minute of every night and day. We cannot reverse the troubles in Gaza, the famines in Africa the corruption that goes on around the world.
Inform yourself about whats happening them then try to help in any way possible, but don't keep looking at the images over and over again.

Things are hotting up for the big holidays last Friday one of the other drivers told me he took in over €400 that night, queues of people all looking for taxis he said.

HailO has now over 2,600 taxis in Dublin and there has been a huge uptake in the customer app.
Speaking for myself I would be out of the taxi business without it.

Sunday, December 09, 2012

The death of the "Celtic tiger"has brought tragedy to many peoples lives.
People in negative equity,
People loosing their jobs and businesses.
Most taxi drivers are feeling the pinch also and with no relief in sight any time soon.

The funeral took place of Hugh O'Regan
He was once a partner in the Thomas Read Group which controlled the best pubs, restaurants and hotels in Dublin.Pravda,The Bailey,Searsons, The Budda bar Blanchardstown, The 40ft in DunLaoighre, Plus the bars at Dublin airport. Then there was the Morrison hotel
At the height he employed 900 people. They were the dearest pubs and he was the first to say that the minimum wage was too high, he wanted to pay less money.
Though he sold many of his pubs he finished owing €800 million to Anglo Irish bank and €172 Million to the Irish Nationwide
Everything came crashing to the ground, he was a young man, only 49

When you fly high sometimes your fall can be very hard.

He had a nervous breakdown and was in hospital, he wandered out one day and his body was found near to a busy road, it is said he had died from natural causes..
It is so tragic with a young family 4 sons and a wife left behind to cope with the future alone.

If you have problems with depression, go to your doctor, talk to your bank manager and try to get your finances back on track.
Money And Budgeting Services are great.(MABS)

Talk to the professionals.

You are not alone.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

This week I had 2 victories.

I stopped a pedophile ! (at least I hope so)

I had a customer going to the doctor and I said I would turn off the meter and wait for her.
I let back the seat and listned to the radio.
On the end of the road thare was a man around 50 talking to a 7/8 year old girl.

So I just observed and after a while by observing body language I noted that he was not her dad.

When you or I meet a small girl we would not engage her in conversation for longer than one minute.
Just before my passinger returned he went back into his house and came back with sweets. At that point I noticed a man passing by. I stopped him. and asked if he was local, he said he was.

"What is the relationship between that man and that child?"
He knew what I was implying and told me that parents turn out their kids and leave them unsupervised all day in this area and it was none of his business.

I thought about it all night. If I aproach the mother of the child I might start a panic over nothing.
On the other hand, if I did nothing I would suffer as I had not done the correct and moral thing.

So I phoned a friend

He is a retired Garda. Problem sorted "Community leason officer"
A discreet observation will be taking place.

The other victory was in the Chinese woman being trafficked.

I finally through a press reporter have managed to get the powers that be to act on my information.

2 Big victories I think.

I think it was on Thursday in rush hour traffic everything came to a full stop.
There was no warnings but the traffic heading towards St.Stephens green was diverted away.

What in fact had happened was that there was a row and one guy either was punched or was running away when he fell under the back wheels of the bus on the corner of Dawson St and Nassau St.
The wheel of the bus and the edge of the footpath acted like a scissors and the mans heat flew on to the middle of the footpath.
.
As you can imagine with hundreds of people milling around it was a scene of absolute horror.

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

After you say "where are you going?"
I often ask
"Where are you from, with that lovely accent?"
Palestine , Israel and Lebanon always gets the response.
"Such a precious place for so many of the worlds religions, its such a pity there is no peace and harmony"

War,war and more war always.

Where would we be if I forgot what happened on Dec 8 1980

God bless you John

2 interesting people today, first an American guy. A second generation Russian from America who is a musician, he was heading for the radio studio to lay down a few tracks with Julie Feeney.
Dontknow her?
When you hear her sing you will know her.
So for him its airport, hotel, studio, hotel,show, hotel, then taxi to the next airport and countrycountry..
She is Irish, I didn't know that.

So you do want to hear Julie sing?

A seasonal video.

The second one was a lady heading home from Gooogle.(yes Google HQ is in Dublin)
Irish accent for sure but behind it there was something interesting.and different
Like a soup with the lightest touch of nutmeg, just enough to make an interesting change but not overpowering.
"I'm French, I moved here when I was 11.Though very few people notice my French accent"
Ahappy person, so I asked
"Any plans for Christmas?"

"Yes I'm off to Rio until the 6 th of Jan with my boyfriend, he comes from there"

Sunday, December 02, 2012

Well I have paid my dues to the criminal scum in Dublin for a nother while.
It happened in Rialto yesterday. The taxi in front of me stopped a full cars length in front of me.
Unfortunately his passinger was at my door and she opened it. I told her the other taxi had stopped for her but she just said he should have stopped sooner. The door was left open and she called for her partner to get in, and hurry up.
They said they were going to Drimnagh and they were very much the worst from drink and drugs.
Then through the short journey the girl was saying "Keep right here, now go left" so we finished up in St Micheals estate.
Now if I was working less,or if I was not as tired the whole thing would have been avoided but theese scumbags know what they are doing .
They are like a running sore living on the back of society leeches sucking our blood.
So a stand off came.
But I had stopped close to a security guard who was minding a nearby building site.
So they walked off without any violence but with plenty of menace.
On the way she said his full name, but I had not gout my pen so I couldn't write it down.
Anyhow the security guard came over and he told me to phone the police.
So as they say in the manual its 112 from a mobile not 999.
The operator took the details, description etc.
I told them that the scum were heading over to cross the canal at the Luas station then over to Drimnagh.
And where are you? St Micheals estate, I need to know what road you are on.
I said that it did not matter what road I was on, surley it would be important to head off the crimanals.
So I hung up.
So I thanked the security guard and headed off, he told me never to come in here its a rathole.
A good 1/2 hour later I was on Parnell Rd. when I got a call,"The Garda here we are looking for you, I offered to meet them but no one knew where they were, so I went to Blackhorse Luas station, rang them back and waited for 20 minutes, as the police car came along. When it did I was on the footparh as the drove past me. I ran up to the window which was open and blew the horn., they stopped and turned and came back.
They listned to my story again, Took my name, date of birth, address.
Then a full description... They didn't even have that when they headed out ..
He read it back, "He had a brown hoodie" No I said it was gray..."And he said he was just out of Mountjoy prison" No I said it was Wheatfield prison.
They drove off and as I was going back down the road behind them they nearly drove past the turn where my fugatives had gone. I followed and did a scout around myself.
One thing the Guard did say,
"You shouldn't have rung us you should have contacted the nearest Garda station, Sundrive Rd."
Neadless to say I drew a blank, but I picked up a lady on Cork St. and at the traffic lights the boys in blue pulled up beside me. "Any luck?" No ..
They drove into Kevin St. Garda station.

The people who are involved in crime have a huge advantage.
There was a young German stabbed to death in Rialto only a few hours before this happened, so on a scale of 1 to 10 my troubles are nothing.

I would love to see an audit of performance and routine assessments made.

3 weeks ago I tried to ring the new anti trafficking number, no reply, then I sent an e mail still no reply.
I just spent 1/2 an hour looking for the van number to give to you but I can't find it.

Saturday, December 01, 2012

On Monday December 3rd 10.30 AM the T.T.H.C are having a march and drive from Parnell Sq. to Dept of transport in Kildare St,

"What do we want?"Well a raft of new rules are coming in, 9 year rule for taxis, stickers on the doors and a new reduced starting rate for the meters.As things stand all the taxi merers will have to be calibrated because the memory that controls the calender has only got a 5 year cycle. It will cost around €250 to have the meter doneand with higher fuel costs the money will never be recouped.

Now the consultation precess seems to be a discussion in a darkened room then they ask the public.
"ARE TAXI FARES A BIT TOO HIGH ?" So they are going with that.

The TTHC wants a few things dealt with first.

Double jobbing,
when I started I had to be available to work 40 hours a week and provide my P45 to show I had no other job.

Oversupply......You did notice that I suppose

Vetting procedures
In Spain you must be resident in the country for 2 or 3 years, be able to speak Spanish and hold a full Spanish driving license before you are tested for a taxi license..

Discount fares and illegal taxi ranks.
Speaks for itself, radio companies are offering discounts and the drivers have to give them.

Lack of appeals process.
The dept of transport is judge jury and executioner in disputes.

There is no proper negotiation process.

Students here on stamp 2 visas which forbids them from being self employed.

Through the few short years we swapped emails..A really wise guy.

Then the emails stopped. I fear for the worse.

If you have gone to the "Happy hunting ground" God bless!

This is a post he put on his blog.

.....arrived
one winter day in March of my 11th year. It was a Saturday and my Uncle
'F' and his wife had gone to the small city on an 'errand'. Rather an
unusual occurrence in winter, especially on the sketchy backwoods roads
of Maine in the 1950s. Around two in the afternoon I heard his old
Studebaker straining and spinning its way up into Uncle 'Rs' barnyard.
Going out to see why he'd come here rather than his farm across the
road, I saw a tall (to me) willowy slip of a young lady climb from the
back seat.
Being of the tender prepubescent age of eleven, I was immediately
fascinated by this slender, but well shaped young woman. Breaking my
through hypnotic reverie, F's wife was introducing this vision of wonder
to me, me! I managed to awake from my stupor in time to hear that her
name was Elise Cote and she was F's wife's cousin from France. The
reason for her coming wasn't revealed then and I actually learned the
details later from my aunt E. In those times you were thought, and
rightly so, to be rude to inquire after such personal information. In
many ways I miss things being that way, but in many other ways I relish
the openness that has forced 'family problems' into the open. If you
read the first few posts of this blog you'll find my reason for feeling
so strongly about this issue.
As the winter morphed into a gorgeous spring, I learned a deal more
about our quiet guest. She spoke English with a smooth and lilting
French accent, made all the more sensuous to my young self by the
mellow, soft tones of her voice. She was nineteen and would be twenty in
mid-summer, she read every chance she got. Aunt 'E' placed her in the
room at the top of the rear stairs beside the 'dry' bathroom with the
lime toilet. She decorated her room strangely in my opinion, simply a
collection of mismatched dolls, stuffed animals, crinkled photos of
groups of children, and other odd mementos of things from her past.
As summer burst forth she and my, quite smitten, young self started to
venture for walks in late afternoon before supper and evening chores.
Our steps seemed to always draw us to a spot beside where the small
brook emptied into our farm pond. There was a large flat rock and we'd
just lie there in mutual silence watching clouds or sit observing the
fish in the clear pond water. I didn't dare ask many questions, like why
she always wore a headscarf that covered her face starting just behind
her beautiful blue eyes. The scarves invariably were worn in the same
manner and she never was seen (by me) without one on. Her features were
near perfection and her hair was very dark brown and slightly wavy. She
helped around the house and taking care of the elderly folks in
residence at the time during the day and evening. Then she'd retreat to
her room where I'd have been dispatched several times carrying buckets
of hot water. I wondered if she bathed herself with the scarf on. One of
life's mysteries.
Another mystery was why a doctor from Canada came to visit her once a
month and always entrusted my aunt E with a package when he departed.
As a former nurse she kept a locked medicine cabinet where the packages
invariably were deposited. Elise also seemed to shy away from
fireplaces, stoves, direct sunlight, etc. At our rock she'd always
remark how nice it was that somebody planted a huge oak tree so it
allowed a great view of the sky while shading us from the sun's rays.
Some days she'd even wade into the pond in pants and blouse, but never
allowing her head to get wet. Another thing that worried me was that
she'd often awaken screaming at night, but only my aunt had the key to
her room. Sometimes she'd go down to her sewing room and come back with
little packets, sometimes I could hear only E's voice calming her back
to sleep. I knew something wasn't quite right, but also knew enough to
refrain from watching and prying.
Elise stayed through the next winter and into the summer. That summer
she was noticeably paler and distracted. Toward the end of the summer
she started to go to our rock earlier and I'd find here there after my
chores were done. One afternoon was so different that it turned my world
upside down for months and still remains in my memory as though it were
yesterday.
Elise had gone off earlier than usual according to aunt E, and she
noticed she'd seemed especially troubled. That was also the only time
she'd ever told me to leave my chores for others and go to check on our
young guest. I hurried down to the rock and was relieved to see Elise
laying in her usual manner, but when I drew closer I noticed something
was amiss. It was too quiet, no happy greeting. I climbed to her side
and my world shattered. She was cold to the touch and her eyes were
staring into the skies unseeing. I don't recall running back to the
house, but I do remember not being able to tell my aunt what was wrong,
just took her hand and half-dragged her to the rock and Elise. As she
got closer, she bent over and scooped up a tin that I recognized as
medicine for the horses, especially the oldest workhorse who was lame.
In the next few days my aunt paid special attention to me as I did
little but grieve for my friend. Finally, she took me into the parlor
where Elise lay and pulled back the colorful scarf for me to see. After I
settled back down, I could understand the scarves. Her left ear was
gone, as was much of the hair on that side of her head. In their place
were terrible scars from deep burns. Her upper arms and back were badly
scarred as well. My aunt explained that the Dr that came each month was a
burn specialist and the packets were morphine vials and syringes so E
could administer the drug when needed. Elise also suffered from horrible
nightmares, what today would be known as PTSD.
On graduating from school at sixteen, Elise had gone to work at an
orphanage where she mostly cared for the younger children. One night the
place was hit by lightning in the barn area attached at the back. By
the time the fire was discovered it'd spread throughout the rear upper
level where the young children and Elise slept. Elise had carried
children from the burning rooms by twos and threes and led older ones.
After many trips she was overcome by smoke and exhaustion and collapsed
just inside the rear area. A fireman found her there and carried her out
to safety. After several operations and recovering some of her lung
function, they could do no more. Today they'd be able to do far more,
but things weren't advanced as much in 1954.
The nightmares were filled with the screams of the frightened
children and pain was mainly from nerve endings that had become heat
sensitive or scar tissue that pulled the tissue too much. Aunt E
explained what I'd already figured out, the pain and memories had become
too much for Elise to bear and she'd taken the animal pain medications
to end her suffering at a place she loved. Uncles R and F and the local
minister buried her between the oak and the rock where the sun shone
through in bright speckled dances. Later a man from the big city came and created a smooth spot on the rock above her head and inscribed: Elise Cote 1936-1957 Her pain is gone and the screams are stilled. She joined those she could not save.
Not a sad memory for me, she gave me two magical summers of afternoons
learning how to lay on a rock and quietly enjoy life's many treasures. I
only wish it had been the 1990s or later so she could have found the
relief she needed. At least a little of it. Until next time, take care
and be well. God bless you on your travels.

I was passing Mark Nixons photographic studio when I snapped this.
I went inside and spoke to Mark and he told me that the exhibition had gone viral.

So pop in and take a look Click here
Take a look at the blog page to see how his fame has gone far and wide.

My day had a funny start. I turned on my HailO app on the phone and walked out to see my car pure white with frost. As I turned to go back in to get some WARM water to deice the windscreen a call came in on the system and I accepted it, I filled the plastic jug and threw it over the windscreen and then I couldn't find my car keys....Panic...searched everywhere...no good, so I rang to explain. No problem take a couple of minutes you are only round the corner.
Then I found them in my jacket pocket, when you book a taxi on the HailO system you can see where the taxi is, so he knew I was coming.
On arrival He ushered me through the gates where his BMW was ready for me with jump leads attached !
Problem number 2.
Because the Prius hybrid system uses a tiny battery there is no way it could jump start anything. But I have a booster pack at home, so we dropped his kid to the creche and then to my house and back to his place, 5 minutes later he was running. Then I said "I suppose that's me finished then" and so it was.
Its a good job I hadn't a conventional car or I would have had no run at all for my money.(Or visa versa)
I had only driven 50 yards when I got another HailO job this time as far as Mount St.

If you are reading this from abroad you might not have been following the case of a judge who has gone to prison.
As a solicitor she drew up a will for a client who was a friend. Time passed she became a barrister and progressed to judge. When you become a judge your legal practice is passed over to another firm of solicitors. They duly went over all the papers and found that she had named her 2 children as beneficiary in the mans will.
When questioned about it she that it must have been an error by the typist.
On digging a good bit further she was put on trial and found guilty of fraud, lost her job and got something like 4 years in Sing Sing.

It is very important for everyone to make a will, you might be killed tomorrow crossing the road and your affairs could be held up for years.
Oh yes ! and read the papers before you sign.
In our case the will had to be re printed twice.

The solicitor we used happened to be struck off later, not for that though

The gent whose will it was must be feeling sore, he was a friend of hers.

"It is easier to forgive your enemy for doing you wrong than it is to forgive a friend for doing you wrong.".
How very true.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

If only life were so simple.
You are good and good things happen to you.
Then if you are naughty...You get a big boil on your arse!

Life is not so simple though, the bad are rewarded and even children suffer from the evils of the world..

I have stepped back and stopped looking at the big table of my quota of good VS bad deeds.
I reckon I could do more good.
I could do a hell of a lot more bad, that's for sure.

Today I seemed to have entered a state of Limbo.
That's where Christians go when they are neither in Heaven or Hell.

My orbit as planet John travells through space is being pulled in a different direction.
I don't know whether it is for the good or bad.
One thing for sure is that I don't plan on being a Jessie James or s super saint.
But there is a change in the air..

I am relying on people I know to keep me going, renovation work is going on in my house, so the contents have been moved from room to room.
It is amazing to see how much absolute crap you gather if you do not throw stuff away on a daily basis.

This is a job which should be done in January/ Feb.

Not for the bizzy month which is upon us! (Not)

So I am just saying I am still here.

taxi tale!!

The other day I picked up a lady going to Dublin Castle.
She was Mute, deaf and dumb.
En route she took out a laptop and she was doing sign language.

Oh I said to myself , "she is talking to herself, rehersing a speech perhaps ?"

Then it hit me. She was using Skype to talk to her friend in Sign language!
There's one for the book for sure.
We are wonderful species how we find methods to communicate

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Go on tell me how many religions did you know? People waiting for taxis at Victoria station

Well the weather has improved and yesterday I had a walk on Dollymount strand. Imagine a beach around 2 miles from the city center.

On the taxi front I brought a Saudi man to the airport yesterday and we spoke of people who live among vast wealth and become arrogant and completely hateful.

So I told him about the guy from the embassy who was in the car a few weeks ago.

The call came to me via HailO just after the skys opened and the streets filled with rain.When I arrived he was annoyed. "Why are you so long coming? I wait a long time!"

So after a quick lesson of please and thank you and most important of all!!!! That he could get out of the car if he wished and I would be well within my rights to request that he got out as bad manners and lack of respect from King to Pauper will never be tolerated..

His anger rose to boiling point. But he was checkmated, so then as we set off. I pointed to the soaked commuters waving for taxis."To stop for any of these people I would be treated like a hero." I said.

Then he said it

"I'm sorry""Good man now we will get on fine"

Strange to say that we did get on very well, so well that in the end he shook my hand and asked for my phone number.I told him to just use the HailO system as taking private bookings often breaks the rythem of my day. You know you can't take a job 1/2 an hour before a booked pick up and I really couldn't risk becoming a manservant of a pup like that.We would have many journeys where each would be trying to get the upper hand against the other, I just couldn't be arsed..

Anyhow back to the other guy who was off to the airport, very well educated really good manners.Many Arab people are very wealthy, not millionare status but billionare status and they live with much poverty around them. As you can immagine if you have billions of dollars your children can have anything and they expect everything. The danger then is that they have no ambition, they don't have a job or the need to work so you get massive problems.

This is what I mean, loads of money DARE YOU TO...........
Just put in Saudi drifting on you tube to see what a problem too much money can be for parents.

An amusing aside to the strict dress code in Saudi Arabia a customer told me that a lot of Saudis go to a distant country to let off steam and relax.(Can't recall the name of the place) "You know the Saudi girls, they have the very shortest skirts"

So dropping him off at the airport I looked over at the taxi pick up area. One taxi !Back at the holding area where cars were backed up on to the road. 3 to 3 1/2 hours queing to make it to the terminal for a job

I know that most guys will not take the bonus that taxi driving will give them.Discussions about how we live in comparison to other nations all around the world,I get a lot of education from my taxi

The entrance was so tight that she kept saying"You won't get in" Here I am going out

A bit of splendor in the Westbury Hotel

New art display at Solomons fine art gallery

Gills pub beside Croke Park

Those bloody reindeer again

Ah yes the C word and special offers arrive every day.Click here for a really good day out.
If you are coming from Dublin go to Donnington park which is beside East Midland airport.
Donnington Park also has a fantastic motor meusium.

When I tried to book my session at Silverstone race track the lady told me that seeing I didn't have an EU driving liscence I couldn't take part !
I explained the Ireland was in the EU.
No not the south part, only Northern Ireland.
When I asked her to check she told me there would be no need to check as she knew she was right.
The guys from the racing school got a great laugh out of that as the knew her, as thick as a short plank..

The taxi meters will have to be updated very soon.
Then they have to be checked and sealed.
To program the meter will cost around €65 which takes 2 minutes.
Then off to some God forsaken place to have it calibrated probably around €120

The guts of 2 days wasted....and for what?

Well talk is of changing things to bring taxi fares down, a bit more business you know.

Here at Price of Travel
we are now tracking travel prices in over 100 different cities around
the world, hoping to help travelers make an accurate budget as well as
pick places where their money goes furthest. Not surprisingly,
transportation prices can vary dramatically, so we are tracking the cost
of getting to and from the airport and getting around town, using taxis
as well as public transportation.
In general, taxi prices can be
very confusing in any given city, so trying to compare all the cities
together was complicated. To do this we decided to track a typical price
range of a 3-kilometer (about 2 mile) trip in each destination. We use
price ranges instead of “average” prices because many cities have
different prices with each company, or different price structures at
night or on weekends.
So the prices
below run from cheapest to most expensive, and some of the results are
surprising. With the exception of the junker taxis used in India and the
Mercedes taxis used in parts of Europe, the cars themselves tend to be
very similar. For example, taxis in Bangkok are almost all late-model
Toyota Camrys with air-conditioning, and yet the ride costs almost
nothing compared to the most expensive cities.
Also, check out our public transportation prices in 80 worldwide cities comparison as well.
NOTE: All exchange rates were updated as of April, 2011, shifting things around a bit.

Notes about world taxi prices

The prices above reflect metered prices, although in some cities each company charges its own rates.

Generally,
if you are obviously a tourist, the cheaper the normal price the
greater chance that the meter will be “broken” or unavailable.

These figures are for in-the-city rides, many airports add an additional surcharge in one or both directions.

Typical airport-to-city price ranges can be found on each of the main city pages, along with public transportation prices.

Some cities charge more at night or on weekends, so the overall range tends to be greater in those cases.

Prices
for waiting/standing still and typical traffic conditions vary from
city to city, and this also increases the price range.

Being
honest, even when all companies in a city use a fixed price scheme it
can still be difficult to research them because many taxi drivers make a
better living by the public not knowing what they should really expect
to pay. On the other hand, we are confident that all of these are at
least very close, although if you have new information we’d love to hear
from you so we can update our records.
The worst confusion almost always involves airport taxi scams, so it’s worth being aware of those before you arrive anywhere.